Airlines
Southwest cut its forecast as fuel stays high.
Adjusted third-quarter profit was 66 cents a share, above the 58 cents analysts expected. The carrier cut its full-year range to $2.60 to $2.85, from $3.25 to $4.25, and sees fourth-quarter fuel at $4.55 a gallon.
The Rocket News · Business Desk · DallasOctober 22, 2026 · 3 min read
DALLAS — Southwest Airlines cut its profit forecast on Wednesday as fuel stays high. Reuters reported an adjusted third-quarter profit of 66 cents a share, up from 11 cents a year earlier and above the 58 cents Wall Street expected, according to LSEG. The carrier cut its full-year adjusted range to $2.60 to $2.85 a share, from $3.25 to $4.25. Analysts, on average, expect $2.85. For the fourth quarter it forecast 55 to 80 cents, under an estimate of 82 cents. Shares rose 1 percent in extended trading.
Southwest expects fuel to average $4.55 a gallon in the fourth quarter, using the forward curve as of Oct. 15. The Wall Street Journal reported net profit of $270 million, or 55 cents a share, against $54 million, or 10 cents, a year earlier. That is the unadjusted figure. It is not the 66-cent adjusted number. Delta has warned that airlines may have to slow growth next year to hold fares. United has said it expects fuel to stay high through 2027.
Fuel at $4.55 a gallon.
The photograph is a file from Dec. 24, 2025, not Wednesday’s earnings call. A Southwest jet, blue, with a red and gold tail, approaches Reagan National with the landing gear down. Ken Cedeno of Reuters made the frame. No executive is in it. It is the airplane, in the air.
Wire and further reading: reuters.com
Filed under Economy
Keep reading
Prices
Wholesale prices rose 6.3 percent.
The producer-price index jumped 1.3 percent in September, the biggest monthly gain since March 2022. Energy prices for producers rose 10.8 percent. Economists had expected a much smaller move. Social Security’s cost-of-living raise for next year is 3.6 percent.
Prices
September prices rose 3.7 percent.
The Consumer Price Index gained 0.6 percent in the month, more than economists expected over the year. Gasoline did the lifting. Core inflation rose to 2.6 percent. The Fed meets again on Oct. 27.
Markets
Stocks were mixed at midday, and diesel was $6.27.
At 12:12 p.m. Eastern the Dow was up 228 points and the Nasdaq was down 0.2 percent. Energy shares rose with the oil price. AAA’s national diesel average on Monday was $6.27 a gallon.